Battle Report 1/11/2013 - SAGA

Last night I was able to get a late night game of SAGA in with my friend Roy Scaife.  It was a great fight ... close in the end.  I was a bit lazy and just used the dinning room table (as my game room in a bit messy at the moment with several projects I'm working on through the next couple of weeks).  But hey - that's what is excellent about SAGA ... you can throw a mat on the dinning room table .. a bit of terrain ... and you are underway!  Pictures of the game below with some commentary.  Although I have a full 6pts of Vikings, Roy currently only has 4pts of Anglo-Danes painted, so we used 4pts each.

Jay White - Vikings 4pt Warband
1 x Warlord
4 x Hearthguard
4 x Hearthguard (Beserkers)
8 x Warriors
12 x Levy with bows

Roy Scaife - Anglo-Danes 4pt Warband
1 x Warlord
4 x Hearthguard
4 x Hearthguard
8 x Warriors
8 x Warriors

Our objective was to kill the enemy Warlord ... simple enough eh!

Getting underway.

Deployment goes well.  I figure I'll swing my Levies around the flank to lay fire into the Anglo-Dane (AD) warriors.  I'll need to get him to come out from that damn wall first though.  My original thought was to bypass the house, get to the far stone wall and then swing around where the hedgerow doesn't provide any cover.

My Vikings advance with the Levy on the flank.

Roy takes the hedgerow across from the house.

Roy promptly gets his troops up to the hedgerow/wall and holds fast.

Warriors holding the wall.

My Vikings advance.

Roy's Anglo-Dane plan comes together.

My Vikings moving past the house ... but those
Anglo-Dane warriors that have jumped the wall
are a tempting target ...

I move up past the house but things are a little slow going as the AD have been using their ability to cancel one of my actions.  From previous games I learned to be very wary of splitting your force.  It is best to keep them in a distance that allows them to support each other.

Anglo-Dane warriors make a move over the wall.

Since I've cleared the house and I'm clearly heading for an "end-around" - Roy takes the initiative and moves is warriors over the wall to push around the side of the house into my rear area.

I take the bait ... and it costs me (no saves for me!).

I immediately move my unit of Warriors into melee with Roy's and come out victorious ... but it costs me dearly (lost four, didn't make a single save ... ouch!).  Clearly I'm going to need some help on this side.

It's all coming down to the side of the house ... lots
of Fatigue to go around.

I move my Warlord down and swing my unit of Beserkers across to that side of the house.  Roy moves his second Warriors over the wall and brings them into melee with my Warlord.  The melee sees two brave Vikings sacrificed to preserve the Warlord.  Roy lost two in the combat.  In my turn I use my ability to remove an enemy Warrior or Levy unit that has 3 or fewer models - and I take his Warrior unit that was reduced to three models (Roy was unimpressed ... mayhaps bitter about that ...).

Casualties abound ... but both warrior units are destroyed.

I manage to wipe out the second unit of Warriors but in the process I find myself a little exposed with my Warlord who only has a single Warrior and single Berserker beside him.  My hope is that Roy doesn't have the movement to get one of is Hearthguard units into my Warlord ...

Anglo-Dane Hearthguard make a run for the
Viking Warlord ... he is not resilient enough to survive.

But ... he does have the movement and rolls HOT (his dice sucked earlier ... they came back when it counted).  Four wounds on my Warlord and only two willing bystanders ... ka-poof ... Warlord down!

A satisfied Anglo-Dane Warlord.

Roy's Warlord ran up ... just in case the Hearthguard didn't finish the job.  A great game all around.